DIY home guide: Autumn
How to protect the value of your property, cut energy costs, avoid costly repairs, and spiff up your surroundings this autumn.
Hit your deck
Free
The summer heat causes wood to expand. Come fall, it contracts, leaving the screws and nails sticking up. Search your deck and outdoor stairs for these painfully sharp objects, hammer or tighten them back into place, and save yourself a tetanus shot or trip to the ER.
NEXT: Feed your lawn, northern edition
Last updated January 28 2011: 5:13 PM ET
